August 2022 Newsletter
Issue #66
Money and Politics
In 2020, a record amount was spent on federal political races -- almost $14 billion, with about $6.6 billion going towards the presidential campaign alone. This broke the previous record from 2016, when the total was $6.8 billion and was more than what consumers spent on cereal ($6 billion), pet grooming ($5.4 billion) or legal marijuana ($5.4 billion) that year.

So far this year, the Democratic and Republican Parties have reported raising a combined $1.3 billion.

 Incoming lawmakers are expected to spend upwards of 4 hours per day raising money.

PACs & "Super PACs"

A Political Action Committee (PAC) has a donation of limit of $2,800 per election cycle -- or a maximum of 2 a year for a total of $5,600 per donor, but “Super PACs" have no financial limit. Also some of the money that flows into a Super PAC is untraceable. This is often referred to as "dark money." Super PACs are relatively easy to create under federal election laws and currently there are 1,959 on file with the Federal Election Commission.
                     Thought Co.

Since the 2010 Supreme Court ruling “Citizens United, there is a trend toward large donor strategies. In 2010, large donations accounted for 62.6% of all donations. This percentage has increased in every election cycle since and, in 2018, large donations accounted for 71% of total fundraising.

Since 2010 Super PACs have spent more than $1 billion in federal elections, with 60% of that coming from just 195 ultra-wealthy individuals.

Dark money has more than doubled since 2010. Almost 50% of the $1 billion spent on federal elections since 2010 was undisclosed dark money.


0.26% of the population gives 68% of political contributions.
Vox
Lobbyists
In 2021, there were over 12,000 federal lobbyists who spent $3.7 billion.
The top 5 lobbying spenders were:
  • US Chamber of Commerce               $19,060,000
  • National Assn of Realtors                  $12,190,052
  • Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America        $8,285,000
  • Blue Cross/Blue Shield                        $7,572,485
  • American Medical Assn                       $6,665,000

                        Open Secrets
The top 5 lobbying industries were:
  • Pharmaceuticals/Health Products     $101,008,940
  • Electronics Manufacturing & Equip $50,570,831
  • Insurance                                            $46,789,690
  • Oil & Gas                                           $34,803,720
  • Electric Utilities                                 $34,199,999

Wealth of Members of the Federal Government

Approximately 48% of the members of Congress have a net worth of at least $1 million. (the percent among the U.S. public is 1%)

The top 5 wealthiest members of Congress, along with their estimated net worth:
  • Rick Scott         (R-Florida)   $259 million
  • Mark Warner   (D-Virginia)      $214 million
  • Greg Gianforte (R-Montana)   $189 million
  • Paul Mitchell    (R-Michigan)   $179 million
  • Mitt Romney    (R-Utah)           $174 million
             Open Secrets

Every President since Harry Truman has had a net worth exceeding $1 million.

At least eight of the current U.S. Supreme Court justices are worth $1 million or more.

Other Countries
In other developed countries, there are limits on both political contributions and on spending. For example, in Canada, one can give $1,100 to a parliamentary candidate; in Greece it's around $3,000 and in Iceland it's a little under $2,500.
Other Resources
One Person, One Vote: A Surprising History of Gerrymandering in America
By Nick Seabrook. Explores the rise of gerrymandering, beginning before the nation’s founding, with the rigging of American elections for partisan and political gain and the election meddling of George Burrington, the colonial governor of North Carolina, in retaliation against his critics. Also tells the story of Patrick Henry, who used redistricting to settle an old score with political foe and fellow Founding Father James Madison (almost preventing the Bill of Rights from happening), and of Elbridge Gerry, the Massachusetts governor from whose name “gerrymander” derives. Concludes with one of the most partisan gerry­manders in American history -- the successful strategy after the 2010 census to control state governments and rig the results of state legislative and congressional elections over the past decade. Makes clear that a vast new redistricting is already here, and that to safeguard the republic, action is needed before it is too late. Read more.
For more on Voting Rights, click here.
The Center for Public Integrity
An independent, nonpartisan nonprofit news organization dedicated to investigating systems and circumstances that contribute to inequality in our country. Seeks to counter the corrosive effects of inequality by holding powerful interests accountable and equipping the public with knowledge to drive change. Learn more.
For more Justice resources, click here.
Faith & Poverty: A Biblical Response
A program for small groups developed by JustFaith Ministries, in partnership with Catholic Relief Services (CRS), invites participants to a new understanding of the dynamics, structures, causes, and consequences of global poverty. Through engagement with Scripture, Catholic social teaching, poetry, and story, participants gain insights into the complexity of this global crisis and the insistent demands for a response rooted in the spirituality of the Scriptures. By encouraging new spiritual practices and informed action, aims to cultivate a groundswell of action and advocacy in solidarity with those whose lives are affected by severe poverty across the globe. Consists of eight 2-hour sessions, a 2-hour retreat and an immersion experience.
For more on Poverty, click here.
From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century 
By William A. Darity. Confronts racial injustice head-on and makes the case for economic reparations for U.S. descendants of slavery. The book opens with an assessment of the intergenerational effects of white supremacy on black economic well-being, and looks to both the past and the present to measure the inequalities borne of slavery. Using innovative methods that link monetary values to historical wrongs, it assesses the literal and figurative costs of justice denied in the years since the end of the Civil War. Offers a detailed roadmap for an effective reparations program, including a substantial payment to each documented U.S. black descendant of slavery. Taken individually, any one of the three eras of injustice outlined --slavery, the Jim Crow era, and modern-day discrimination--makes a powerful case for black reparations. Read more.
For more on Racism, click here.
Raising Antiracist Children:
A Practical Parenting Guide
By Britt Hawthorne. Acts as an interactive guide for strategically incorporating the tools of inclusivity into everyday life and parenting. The book breaks down antiracist parenting into four comprehensive sections:

Healthy bodies—Establishing a safe and body-positive home environment to combat stereotypes and create boundaries.

Radical minds—Encouraging children to be agents of change, accompanied by scripts for teaching advocacy, giving and taking productive feedback, and becoming a coconspirator for change.

Conscious shopping—Raising awareness of how local shopping can empower or hinder a community’s ability to thrive, and teaching readers of all ages how to create shopping habits that support their values.

Thriving communities—Acknowledging the personal power we have to shape our schools, towns, and worlds, accompanied by exercises for instigating change.

Includes questionnaires, stories, activities, tips, and tools. Read more.
For more on Racism, click here.
After the Last Border: Two Families and the Story of Refuge in America
By Jessica Goudeau. Looks at the lives of two women as they struggle for the twenty-first century American dream, having won the "golden ticket" to settle as refugees in Austin, Texas.

Tells the story of Mu Naw, a Christian from Myanmar struggling to put down roots with her family, who was accepted after decades in a refugee camp at a time when America was at its most open to displaced families; and Hasna, a Muslim from Syria, who agrees to relocate as a last resort for the safety of her family--only to be cruelly separated from her children by a sudden ban on refugees from Muslim countries. Tracks the human impacts of America's ever-shifting refugee policy as both women narrowly escape from their home countries and begin the arduous but lifesaving process of resettling in Austin, Texas--a city that would show them the best and worst of what America has to offer.

Situates a dramatic, character-driven story within a larger history--the evolution of modern refugee resettlement in the United States, beginning with World War II and ending with closed-door policies --revealing not just how America's changing attitudes toward refugees has influenced policies and laws, but also the profound effect on human lives.
For more on Refugees, click here.
The Defiant Middle: How Women Claim Life's In-Betweens to Remake the World
By Kaya Oakes. Draws on the wisdom of women mystics and explores how transitional eras or living in marginalized female identities can be both spiritually challenging and wonderfully freeing, ultimately resulting in a reinvented way of seeing the world and changing it. "Change, after all," Oakes writes, "always comes from the margins."
For more on Gender Inequality, click here.
Center on Wrongful Convictions
A resource from the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, dedicated to identifying and rectifying wrongful convictions and other serious miscarriages of justice. To date, the Center has exonerated more than forty innocent men, women, and children from states around the country, and it receives thousands of inquiries a year. The CWC also houses some of the nation's leading legal experts on false confessions and police interrogations and has helped exonerate more than twenty false confessors. Learn more.
For more on the Criminal Justice System,
Eviction Lab
A team of researchers, students, and website architects who believe that a stable, affordable home is central to human flourishing and economic mobility. Drawing on tens of millions of records at Princeton University, the Lab has published the first ever dataset of evictions in America, going back to 2000. Looks at evictions over time, maps evictions across the country and compares the eviction rates of different neighborhoods, cities, or states, generating custom reports about America’s eviction epidemic. Researchers can use the data to help document the prevalence, causes, and consequences of eviction and to evaluate laws and policies designed to promote residential security and reduce poverty. Learn more.
For more on Housing, click here.
Church at the Wall: Stories of Hope along the San Diego-Tijuana Border

By Seth David Clark. Tells the story of how the Border Church, founded and pastored by John Fanestil, worships on the San Diego–Tijuana border without a building. Every Sunday afternoon the author, who serves as the U.S.-side pastoral coordinator of the church, gathers with people of good will from both sides of the border at Friendship Park to build the kingdom of God. Their love of Christ is exhibited through celebrating communion, singing, and sharing the peace through the mesh metal walls between the U.S. and Mexico.
For more on Immigration, click here.
International Catholic Migration Commission
ICMC facilitates a worldwide network of Catholic Bishops Conferences and Catholic-inspired organizations working on migration and refugee issues at the local and national level.
Protects and serves uprooted people, including refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced people, victims of human trafficking, and migrants — regardless of faith, race, ethnicity or nationality.
ICMC gives priority to assist the most vulnerable people in need of protection. Its programs are based on needs-first and right-based approaches. They comply with humanitarian standards, principles of good governance, and Catholic social teachings.
For more on Refugees, click here.
Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth
By Randy Woodley. Through meditations and ideas for reflection and action, the author -- an activist, author, scholar, and Cherokee descendant -- offers a one-hundred-day journey to reconnect with the Earth. Invites readers to come away from the American dream and get in touch with the water, land, plants, and creatures, the people who lived on that land for thousands of years prior to Europeans' arrival, as well as with themselves. Read more.
For more on the Environment, click here.
Unbound
An international nonprofit founded by lay Catholics grounded in the Gospel call to put the needs of the marginalized and vulnerable first. Builds relationships of mutual respect and support that bridge cultural, religious and economic divides. Works with people of diverse faith traditions in 19 countries, bringing people together to challenge poverty in new and innovative ways. Inspires confidence and offers opportunity and encouragement to children and families living on the margins of society. Creates practical and trustworthy means for people to help others and nurture human connections. Learn more.
For more Justice resources, click here.
Necessary Risks:
Challenges Privileged People Need to Face
By Teri McDowell Ott. Encourages readers to value risk-taking as the path toward a more equitable and just world. Building on skillful, memoir-like stories, explores ten risks -- including learning, teaching, leading, following, going, and staying and then reflects on how these experiences, including mistakes in often tense settings, have forced the author to confront and wrestle with the systems and structures that have privileged her as a white Christian woman. These necessary risks are also informed by authors, theologians, and scholars of color, such as Martin Luther King Jr., James Baldwin, Bell Hooks, Audre Lorde, Gloria Anzaldúa, Ada María Isasi-Díaz, and Eddie Glaude Jr. Demonstrates that in the face of injustice, white silence and inaction are not neutral. Leads readers to feel less fearful and more capable in diverse settings and ultimately to contribute to personal and communal learning and growth, change and transformation. Read more.
For more Justice resources, click here.
Things That Matter: Overcoming Distraction to Pursue a More Meaningful Life
By Joshua Becker. Helps readers identify the obstacles—such as fear, technology, money, possessions, and the opinions of others—that keep us from living with intention, and provides practical ideas for letting go of those distractions today so we can focus on what matters most. Uses practical exercises and questions, insights from a nationwide survey, and success stories to provide motivation to:
• Identify the pursuits that matter most
• Align our dreams with our daily priorities
• Recognize how money and possessions keep us from happiness
• Become aware of how others’ opinions of us influence our choices
• Embrace what we’re truly passionate about instead of planning that next escape
• Figure out what to do with all those emails, notifications, and pings
• Let go of past mistakes and debilitating habits

It is a book about living well. It’s about overcoming the chatter of a world focused on all the wrong things. It’s about rethinking the common assumptions of today to find satisfaction and fulfillment tomorrow. Read more.
For more on Simple Living, click here.
 Important Dates This Month
Individuals Honored This Month
August 9th
If the Church stays silent in the face of what is happening, what difference would it make if no church ever opened again?
August 14th
The most deadly poison of our times is indifference.
August 15th
The life of "peace" is both an inner journey toward a disarmed heart and a public journey toward a disarmed world. This difficult but beautiful journey gives infinite meaning and fulfillment to life itself because our lives become a gift for the whole human race. With peace as the beginning, middle, and end of life, life makes sense.
August 21st
What is a pilgrimage? Isn't it a group of people, in the company of one another, who are travelling together for a holy purpose? Our journey is a pilgrimage that has Jesus Christ as both its origin and its destination.
Our Website
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To learn more, click here.
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